


A Collection of useful links for writing fanfiction.

by Gazyrlezon



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Just a few links I though might be interesting, Not Actually A Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 16:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7851712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gazyrlezon/pseuds/Gazyrlezon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is basically just a list of a whole lot of websites useful for writing, understanding Westeros and its culture as well as learning about real history, or at least the aspects that are useful for writing in a fantasy setting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Collection of useful links for writing fanfiction.

**Author's Note:**

> So recently, in the comments of one of my fics, I was asked this: _Got any other awesome Asoiaf resources for me?_ , after I'd linked an analysis of the titular battle in _Battle of the Bastards_ , and found I had a rather long list of blogs and youtube channels dealing (in one form or other) with Asoiaf that I follow that might interest other people as much as they interest me.
> 
> This is the list, and a few additional things that are useful as well.

#### On tumblr

  * A good place to start would be [Asoiaf University](http://asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/), which is basically a collection of other blogs, mixed with some additional posts from other bloggers. 
  * [Poor Quentyn](http://poorquentyn.tumblr.com/) does a _lot_ of literary analysis. Be careful though, many of his theories (especially the Eldritch Apocalypse) are very certainly going to happen, and he draws heavily on the already-released sample chapters from _The Winds of Winter_. In case you don't know them … well, most of the time he puts spoilerwarnings in front of these posts. 
  * [Wars of Ice and Fire](http://warsofasoiaf.tumblr.com/), which analyses strategy and tactics of the various commanders in Asoiaf. GRRM is actually quite good at these (unlike with the math in his novels, or the physics. They're both … well), to the point that it becomes possible to predict things that will probably happen in the next books based exclusively on information about the troops and their commanders. 



And of course, since they're all on tumblr, they've all got an _Ask-me-anything_ -Button on their page, and normally will reply to most questions that aren't completely outlandish.

#### Not necessarily Asoiaf, but maybe interesting to get an understanding of medieval weaponry and its usage:

  * [Lindybeige](https://www.youtube.com/user/lindybeige/videos). His [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4bXBDvN9Wc) about quarterstaffs is particularly interesting if you've ever wondered how realistic Ser Barristan's skills with a stick of wood are (and while I'm at it, let me also point out [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-pIjgvjPFo), showing just how powerful and painful a wooden stick can be), and quite a lot of the other stuff he does is about weapons, tools or medieval life in general, which is always a useful thing to know when writing in GRRM's world. 
  * [Skallagrim](https://www.youtube.com/user/SkallagrimNilsson/videos), especially his video about [half-swording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwuQPfvSSlo) (basically, grabbing the blade of your sword in a fight), and why it isn't stupid. Mostly he does sword reviews, but also a lot of videos on fighting techniques. 
  * [Schola Gladiatora](https://www.youtube.com/user/scholagladiatoria/videos)'s also got videos on all kinds of medieval weapons, as well as the occasional _actual_ fight (i.e. not staged, they're really fighting with blunt swords). Every now and again, he'll talk about a fight scene in movies/shows, and there are already several videos on _Game of Thrones_
  * [The Metatron](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjGKyrdT4Gja0VLO40RlOw/videos) does similar things like Skallagrim, but that doesn't mean his videos are boring or repetitive (far from it). 



#### Other stuff:

  * [TvTropes](http://tvtropes.org/), which gives you definitions of all kinds of tropes, but also other things (there is, for example, they've got an article about _Ancient Egypt_ , and from what I know about it, it's actually fairly accurate, though I am by no means an expert. Also, it has articles even about _fanfiction_. Be sure to look at some of the recommendations they've got there, most of them are pretty good). Be warned, though, that you'll probably spend hours there unless you're very good at self-control (or I did, anyways). There's even an [xkcd](http://xkcd.com/609/) about it. They've returned the favor, of course, with an [article](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Webcomic/Xkcd) about xkcd. In case you've read Douglas Adam's _The Hitchhike's Guide to the Galaxy_ : That's how they see themselves compared to Wikipedia: Like the guide to the Encyclopedia Galactica. Much cooler to read, often easier to understand, and occasionally accurate (well, they do get it right most of the time, from what I can tell. Just don't take _everything_ written there for absolutely granted). 
  * [fandomfollowing.com](http://www.fandomfollowing.com/), which has a lot of articles on quite a lot of stuff, and quite a lot of them about Asoiaf and GoT 
  * [An historian goes to the movies](https://aelarsen.wordpress.com/). This is the blog with the article about the battle I mentioned above, just search for "Game of Thrones". 
  * [So Spake Martin](http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/), which is [Exactly What It Says On The Tin](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin): an archive of almost every statement GRRM's ever made about his world and the characters in it. 
  * Oh, and there's the [wiki](http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Main_Page), in case anyone doesn't know that yet. 



**Author's Note:**

> So, that's basically it, don't think I know a whole lot more that might be useful.
> 
> In case you do, just point out other interesting stuff in the comments.


End file.
